---
title:  Using Non-ASCII Strings in Apache Geode Property Files
---

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You can specify Unicode (non-ASCII) characters in Apache Geode property files by using a `\uXXXX` escape sequence.

For a supplementary character, you need two escape sequences, one for each of the two UTF-16 code units. The XXXX denotes the 4 hexadecimal digits for the value of the UTF-16 code unit. For example, a properties file might have the following entries:

``` pre
s1=hello there
s2=\u3053\u3093\u306b\u3061\u306f
```

For example, in `gemfire.properties`, you might write:

``` pre
log-file=my\u00df.log
```

to indicate the desired propery definition of `log-file=myß.log`.

If you have edited and saved the file in a non-ASCII encoding, you can convert it to ASCII with the `native2ascii` tool included in your Oracle Java distribution. For example, you might want to do this when editing a properties file in Shift\_JIS, a popular Japanese encoding.

For more information on internationalization in Java, see [http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/tech/intl-139810.html](http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/tech/intl-139810.html).


